<<I personally see nothing
wrong with mystery writers reviewing mysteries.>>
Nor do I. One of the best crime fiction reviewers ever was
Charles
Williford, writing in the Miami Herald. And of course Anthony
Boucher, who
is far better known for his criticism than for his fiction
work.
Familiarity with a genre is essential if one is to
speak/write persuasively,
perhaps even intelligently, about that genre. Too few of our
more insightful
crime fiction writers bother with criticism. I don't know if
it's because
the money is scant or because they've lined up on Hemingway's
side in his
debate with Ezra Pound on the subject of criticism.
It was "Old Hem's" (Pound's term) opinion that you couldn't
run with both
the fox and the hounds.
Of contemporary critics, I liked Jean Heller's review of God
is a Bullet,
though I disagree with her overall favorable opinion of the
book. Lev
Raphael is another fiction writer capable of writing
criticism that has
something to say and usually says it pretty damned
well.
PB
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